A person on a country boat tossed the consignment into the sea on seeing the chasing Coast Guard vessel. The gold was later retrieved.
Published Apr 06, 2024 | 3:31 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 06, 2024 | 3:31 PM
Gold smuggled. (Reprsentative/ iStock)
In a joint operation involving the Coast Guard and Customs, the DRI has seized over ₹3 crore worth gold smuggled from Sri Lanka and dumped in the sea off Mandapam.
An official release on Saturday, 6 April, said the agencies recovered a total of 4.9 kg of the precious metal from the sea bed on 5 April near Ramanathapuram.
“In a joint operation with Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Customs Preventive Unit (CPU), Ramanathapuram, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 4.9 kg of foreign origin gold mid-sea off Vedhalai coast, Mandapam,” it said.
Following intelligence that foreign-origin gold was being smuggled into India from Sri Lanka through Vedhalai coast in a fishing boat, officers of DRI and ICG mounted surveillance on the intervening night of 3 and 4 April.
“In the early hours of 4 April, the officers identified a suspected boat mid-sea and chased in an ICG vessel and intercepted it. Just before the point of interception, the officers noticed that a consignment was thrown in the sea by one of the persons onboard the suspected boat.”
“There were three persons onboard the country boat and during interrogation, they confessed that the consignment thrown in the sea consisted of foreign origin gold smuggled from Sri Lanka and it was received at deep sea from a boat” there, the release said.
Meanwhile, after officers of CPU joined the DRI, a search operation commenced at the spot where the gold was thrown.
On Saturday, the smuggled gold was retrieved after an extensive search operation in the seabed. There were crude gold bars of different sizes totally weighing 4.9 kg which was valued at ₹3.43 crores.
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